I then tried adjusting the rc.local file by adding the address of the router and removing the route add gw command. No change.

Finally, recalling past experience having a problem configuring when my router wasn't broadcasting (and rarsa's comment about broadcasting NOT improving security), I changed the router setting to broadcast the ssid.

In my next (and only, so far) reboot, the connection was automatically made.

It is peculiar that neither my linux based Nokia internet tablet nor this laptop (with Puppy) when running Windows XP have a problem connecting without my router broadcasting.
Somehow, I still feel more secure if my router is not broadcasting.

In rarsa's thread on getting his bcm43xx using computer to autoconnect, he mentions a revised network file (for 4.01, but said to probably work on earlier puppies) on the developer blog. I read the note and tried to look at the file (following a link to ibiblio) but got a 404 error.

Thanks for your help. I am glad to remove extra files when I can. It makes me feel a little more in charge of my system.

Hi; under Puppy 3 and 4.0 this all works just fine with the now obsolete iwp3945 driver module. But with the newer kernels where the module is iwl3945 it's a different story.

I've tried this all the way including the last section on Trouble-shooting encryption but still it's no good - no WPA encrypted wireless. .

Open works, WEP works, but WPA is a no-no. Old Network Wizard; new Network wizard; command-line (as per this How-to) are all the same.

Specifically, with the command-line the wpa_supplicant command just loops round endlessly.

Would it be helpful to capture the output and post it? If so, how? I tried to > it into a logfile but that didn't work as some of the output was treated as a command and did some very strange things._________________Nick

This new version should play better with the new "mac80211" family of wifi drivers in Puppy4.1.

Thanks, I've tried that but sadly it's no better. Here's a screenshot of the rvxt window following the the loading of the encryption modules and the wpa_supplicant command (sorry, but I couldn't get it to log into a file). Left to its own devices it loops round and round giving that output.

I did a Google search for "iwl3945 wpa_supplicant" and I see a lot of stories about problems with hidden SSID's. This seems to match with forum member JustGreg's findings.
So the first thing you should do is configure your router to broadcast the SSID - which, according to rarsa, is actually more secure than a hidden SSID.
Then you should continue running the wpa_supplicant command manually, trying different "ap_scan=" values in /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf (or /etc/wpa_supplicant2.conf for WPA2). Try the values "0", "1", and "2".

I did a Google search for "iwl3945 wpa_supplicant" and I see a lot of stories about problems with hidden SSID's. This seems to match with forum member JustGreg's findings.
So the first thing you should do is configure your router to broadcast the SSID - which, according to rarsa, is actually more secure than a hidden SSID.
Then you should continue running the wpa_supplicant command manually, trying different "ap_scan=" values in /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf (or /etc/wpa_supplicant2.conf for WPA2). Try the values "0", "1", and "2".

Sorry about the pause - been away again.

I'm afraid that none of your suggested values worked. They timed out at different speeds, and some of the messages looked a bit different; but still no WPA connection. _________________Nick

I think it's worth revisiting the issue of encryption-related modules. I seem to recall that the Intel wifi drivers require a particular encryption module; "michael_mic".

So I suggest that before you run the wpa_supplicant command you first run "lsmod" to see what modules are loaded, looking for the following:

aes_generic
arc4
crc32c
crypto_blkcipher
ecb
michael_mic

If any of these is not loaded, load it manually with "modprobe xxx"
then try the wpa_supplicant command again.

Thanks. I'll give that another try soon and report back.

Sorry that my attempts nave been rather intermittent, but as I use wireless most of the time, and as others in the household do so all the time, I find that it's only when I don't want to do anything else that I boot up with the newest kernel version and have another go with WPA! My opportunities for fiddling with the wireless settings are fairly limited.

I do have another question that may or may not be germain. In the wpa_supplicant.conf file where we put in our secret pass-phrase, should that be the straight string as we set it up in the router? Or should it be the encrypted value? I have observed that the same file in working (i.e. older kernel) versions have it stored as encrypted, so I have copied that value. Could this be what's screwing it up? It occurs to me that I may have caused my own problems here and wasted our time. But then, if that's true at what point in the process does the encrypted value get written back to over-write the original value? Where I have got WPA to work the .conf file always has a scrambled and unreadable passphrase.

Later Update

Well; what I actually did was to d/l and try 4.1 beta - the latest kernel version. And lo; it worked, right out of the box!

Whether it's the network wizard or something else I don't actually know. But for me the struggle is now over.

@Tempestuous If you would like me to try out some other settings on my previous 4.1 (alpha 6 actually) in the interests of understanding then please let me know.

Or we could just give thanks for what we have received and move on._________________Nick

Nick,
what would be useful is if you could establish a WPA2 connection, then run "lsmod" and list here exactly which of the encryption modules that I mentioned above are loaded.
This may help us troubleshoot encryption problems for others.

@Tempestuous As you requested I have run lsmod looking for the various encryption modules you mentioned. The results surprised me as only arc4, crypto_blkcipher and ecb were present. See the attached screenshot.

What the screenshot also shows is the results of searching for 'wpa_supplicant' with pfind. It demonstrates something that surprised me even more which is that the Network Wizard does not appear to have created a wpa_supplicant.conf file with my settings. Either it has a different name or it uses a different setup altogether. I looked at /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf to see whether it held the passphrase straight or encrypted and observed that it was still at all default values. I then noticed that it was dated 2007/02/04 so it's clear that it hasn't been over-written with my values.

'Tis a great mystery - to me at any rate. What do you think is going on here?_________________Nick

@tempestuous:
Thanks a lot for your detailed description on how to get wlan working by hand. I spend several hours on getting access to the internet with my MSI US54SE WLAN USB stick, but wasn't successfull - neither with WPA nor WEP nor without any encryption.

I got some strange errors, couldn't explain it. Then I followed your instructions and a last found out that the problem was the file /etc/resolv.conf which was a symbolic link to /etc/ppp/resolv.conf which was a symbolic link to /etc/resolv.conf ...

After I repaired that, everything run well - connection is okay now.

I'm new to puppy since a few days, tried (successfully!) to install it on an older notebook and I was really surprised how fast it boots and works on that old hardware.

I have access to an advent 7111 for a few days that has a wireless card 8086:4222 which uses iwl3945 in puppy 4.1rc1, I am using it with a wep connection.

This has given me some grief getting it working but I think I have it sussed now.

The first hurdle was that I got errors trying to bring the interface up, I suspect this was because the hardware kill switch had been activated in windows which is now dead (hooray). I discovered this by looking at the error messages reported by dmesg. I found on the ubuntu forums a suggestion to

Code:

rmmod iwl3945
modprobe iwl945

Presumably the device needs taking down cleanly in software before it can be brought back again properly. This was not needed on subsequent boots.

Then

Code:

ifconfig wlan0 up
iwconfig essid xxxxxxx
iwconfig key zzzzzzzz

configures the card
I then have to take the interface down and bring it back up again. This seems to be crucial. If I don't do this I end up with a 169..... ip address

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